The NFL is focused on having an international presence and, over the years, expanded its international footprint. The first international regular season NFL game took place in Mexico City. After that, the NFL International Series was created to have an annual game in London. Now, the series expanded to three annual London games, two annual Germany games, and the occasional game in Mexico.
While there are more games outside the United States than in years past, all 32 NFL teams remain based in the U.S. That might change massively in the near future.
In a piece by A.J. Perez from Front Office Sports, an unnamed NFL team owner not only predicted an international team, but an international division.
This anonymous owner told Perez, “We don’t know if it’s going to happen in two years, five years, or whenever, but there’s going to be an international division.”
The NFL seemed open to that, whether they consist of relocated franchises or expansion teams. Peter O’Reilly, NFL executive VP of club business, international, and league events said, “I think what we are focused on is building capacity so if there were that opportunity — whether a club wanted to consider relocation or potentially looking at expansion — we are in that mode.”
If any current NFL team were to relocate to Europe, it would be the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Jaguars play a home game in London once a year, and team owner Shahid Khan owns Fulham FC. Over the past five years, Khan tried to buy London’s Wembley Stadium for Fulham FC to play in, but that could also be a home for an NFL team.
All this is mere speculation. It’s easy to have the idea to go international, but there’s a lot that needs to take place before one team makes their home in Europe, much less four teams to create a division. A division makes a bit more sense in that those teams can play all divisional games in Europe, but players need to be on board with living in Europe for six months. Not to mention the possibility of watering down the league if we wind up having 36 teams.
Despite all that, the idea of splitting billions in expansion fees would be enticing for the NFL and current owners. But again, there is a lot to be done before this comes anywhere close to a reality.
